Tuesday, October 28, 2008

'Been A While

Lots has been going on around here, and it seems that I haven't been making time to blog. I fear that my faithful followers have deserted me. ARGH!!! Leave a comment if you're still hanging in there with me, just to boost my morale!

The morning after I last posted, with those lovely pictures of Barker frolicking on the golf course during our evening walk, he took the liberty to totally 'besmurch' himself with all sorts of hangers on! Take a gander:

He's a funny boy: he is eager to go out and hunt on the golf course, but he hates to look bad, so he wasn't too happy to have me take that picture! He was so embarrassed!!!!

The rule in this household is that he who allows Barker to become besmurched must also be the 'desmurcher'! I am pleased to report that while the boys had walked the golf course, I had done my yoga! So, here are my boys:

take special notice that Elsie, our kitty cat, is seated on one of the ottomans! She and Barker have a real love/hate relationship, and she was totally enjoying Barker's grooming session!

We had tickets to hearKhaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, speak at Brenau University last Thursday evening.

It was a wonderful evening, and I so enjoyed hearing Dr. Hosseini speak about his life and his writing. He said that when he is writing a book, 8 hours can pass by and he is astonished when he looks at the clock and realizes how the time has flown. (I can relate as I feel the same way when I am working in my dye studio!) He also expressed his displeasure with the ads of the Republican National Committee where they cite that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein. Like so many of us here in these United States, Dr. Hosseini doesn't understand why the name Hussein is offensive, or why some think that a Muslim cannot also be a 'good' citizen of the United States. 'good' isn't the correct word, but I think you know where I'm going with this!

OK, enough on politics for tonight!!

We spent a hurried 48 hours in Midtown last weekend. Was it really 48 hours? We went to see Oliver Stone's "W" at Midtown Arts (there wasn't much in there that I didn't already know, but Josh Brolin did a great job and the gal who played Condalisa Rice was fantastic!) and we walked a lot, as usual! I snapped a few pictures on our walks around the 'hood. Here's how 'our collapsed house' is coming along:

I was so pleased to see that they had gotten the roof on since we last were in Midtown, because we actually had rain last week!

I love how the neighborhood decorates for the holidays! These guys always put on a great show:

I love the front porch on this house at the corner of Penn and 8th St:

Midtown is definitely Obama Country, and I feel so comfortable when we are there! Here are just a few of the many signs and bumper stickers in the neighborhood:

We rushed home to GainesVegas on Sunday morning, so that we could attend a few blessings. It seems that the last Sunday in October is a huge Blessing Day!

Our friends John and Troy were having their new shop, Occasions by John & Troy, blessed by Doug, our Episcopal Priest. Here they are after the Blessing:

John is an incredible flower designer and Troy is a fabulous baker. They also have many pieces of art on display and for sale in their lovely shop, including some of my scarves!!

Our friends Joan and Ed have recently built and moved into their dream home, and it is indeed a wonderful abode! They had invited us to their House Blessing later Sunday afternoon, and we were delighted to attend. Our church was also having the annual Blessing of the Animals at the same time, but we decided to give Barker the afternoon off, and opted to spend it with Joan and Ed, and many other of our mutual friends.

While in Atlanta last weekend, I went by Mingei World and picked up this beautiful tjap that I had ordered earlier in the week:

I just love it!! I spent several hours batiking today and will hopefully have some nice pieces to show for it. If so, I'll share them with you soon!

My usual lunch is a big salad with lots of spinach, aurugula, tomatoes, Feta cheese, sliced mushrooms, perhaps a cut-up apple, and a bit of whatever leftover cold meat we have on hand. Today's lunch looked particularly appealing, so I snapped this pic:

Well, that's it in a rather large nutshell. But, one last thing: if you are a U.S. citizen and haven't voted and you have the opportunity to vote early, please do so! I don't care which candidate you choose, I just want you to get out there and vote! It is so important!!!

I voted last week, my daughter and husband voted this week. And now I'm harassing my son in Florida to get out and do it, especially since the gov has extended voting to 12 hours per day. Only one more week----

That tjap looks cool, I hope you post pics of the batik fabric you do.

That was Thandie Newton that played Rice...she is from Britain...her American debut was the character of Beloved in the movie of the same title. She did a heck of a role...I thought they all captured the essence of the personalities very well.

Barker looked so cute. I have already voted. Keith is waiting until Tuesday. I didn't want to wait in the long lines. When are we going to lunch? Or if you and C ever stayed here on the weekend, we could do dinner!!!Molly